Arts Council uses musical performances to promote art, Robeson County towns

LUMBERTON — The Robeson County Arts Council is using county landmarks as a backdrop to this season’s River Voices concert series.

The series was established three years ago with the goal of showcasing musical talent at each of Robeson County’s seven major municipalities. It features a group of musical ensembles comprised of Robeson County talent.

This year’s concerts have looked different because of COVID-19 restrictions. Previous venues mainly have been churches within the county.

“As a result of COVID,we’ve had to rethink how we’re going to do concerts,” said Vanessa Abernathy, Robeson County Arts Council president.

The Council settled on hosting concerts outdoors, taping the performances and making the content available online through their social media platforms. Choosing where to film the concerts was left up to town officials.

“What we’ve done is we’ve contacted the towns and asked them to identify a location to take the video,” she said.

The mayor of each town participates in the videos and is given a platform from which to showcase his or her area.

“I’m glad we’re doing that because we want to highlight our local towns and increase tourism to our local town,” Abernathy said. “By giving the mayors the opportunity to toot their own horns and give information about the location, we pique the interest of those that are traveling through Robeson County.”

Abernathy said the council is following the trend of local theaters by going virtual, but using it as an opportunity to promote the county as well.

“GPAC (Givens Performing Arts Center) has already gone online, Carolina Civic Center has gone online and now we’re going online,” she said. “GPAC and Carolina Civic Center use there own facilities, where as we, as the county Arts Council, are highlighting our local towns.”

Each town has its own nugget of history to showcase, she said.

“We have a lot of beautiful towns and they have great history,” Abernathy said. “They are on our back roads and make for a pleasurable visit.”

So far three concerts have been filmed, edited and uploaded online by New World Media LLC.

Local musician and singer Lakota John was the first to perform in Rowland at the Historic Train Depot in town. His recorded performance includes snapshots of Rowland’s history inserted between songs.

The second performance of the series was filmed at the Robeson County History Museum in downtown Lumberton. Bella Venti performed in the museum’s gardens. Bella Venti is a professional woodwind quintet comprised of band directors and musicians from various walks of life.

The most recent video features The University of North Carolina at Pembroke’s jazz ensemble led by Aaron Vandermeer, the chair of UNCP’s Department of Music. Throughout his performance on the steps of Highlander Academy in Red Springs, Vandermeer speaks of the jazz talent in North Carolina.

“We’re getting the opportunity to spread information about the art of music in the state of North Carolina,” Abernathy said of another goal for the series.

”We’re hoping that by bringing art and culture to our towns with River Voices, we increase the interest in art events and development in those towns so its a win-win for all of us, for the Arts Council, for the towns and, of course, for our local economy and our local artists,” she added.

The next and final performance of the year will feature another UNCP ensemble and will take place in Fairmont. The performance will be available online at the end of November.

“We’re working on 2021, and we’re always looking for local talent to perform,” Abernathy said.

Each video is available on the Robeson County Arts Council’s YouTube Channel, as are past performances sponsored by the Council.